It was our normal Thursday meeting at the Phoenix East Rotary club. The speaker was Jeff Scanlan, a magician and motivational speaker.

We watched him pull out his props and I thought to myself, this should be interesting. I haven’t watched a magician in years and I was bound and determine to watch for any slight of hand that I could catch.

I was watching his hands, looking at his coat just waiting for him to make a mistake.

He showed us a bottle with a deck of cards in it. Now mind you, the opening of the bottle was smaller than the deck of cards. He explained that when first heard of this trick there were less than 12 people in the entire word who could do this trick. 12 people out of over 7 billion, think about that for a moment. What would make him think he could do what only 12 people could do.

Then he started speaking. Not your normal patter of nothing up my sleeve but about life, challenges, limiting beliefs. He told of his journey of over three years trying to figure out how to put things in a jar. He spoke of first having to believe he could do it. He then said the next challenge was to be committed to the process. Not just wanting to learn a trick but be committed to the end result, no matter what.

There are a lot of life lessons Jeff taught us that day. That life is a lot like magic. It is not only what you see but the work behind it that matters. Maybe that’s the real magic.

If you would like Jeff Scanlan to speak at your next engagement you may go to his website Jeff Scanlan or email him at Jeff@jeffscanlan.com

The Phoenix East Rotary club is a non-profit 501C organization. Our mission is to serve our community. Our primary focus is on two school districts through our Student of the Month award as well as service projects on both a local and international level.

We meet on Thursdays from 12:00 to 1:30 at the Balz School District Office located at 4825 E Roosevelt St, Phoenix AZ 85008.

Come experience our fellowship and see if now is the time for you to give back and serve.

Central Arizona Project is the primary steward of central and southern Arizona’s Colorado River water resources. By delivering almost 500 billion gallons of Colorado River water every year, CAP has dramatically and positively changed the economic and environmental landscape of our state. Clearly, CAP has a critical role in supporting the health and sustainability of the Colorado River and the State of Arizona.

Recently, Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business quantified CAP’s economic value to the state in a research study commissioned by CAP. According to the results of the Economic Impact Study of CAP on the State of Arizona, CAP’s delivery of Colorado River water from 1986 through 2010 generated in excess of $1 trillion ($1,090,000,000,000) of Arizona’s gross state product. In recent years, the existence of CAP has generated an economic benefit approaching $100 billion per year, accounting for at least one-third, and sometimes more, of the entire Arizona gross state product. Simply put, Arizona would be entirely different if CAP’s 336-mile-long canal system was never constructed, commencing almost 40 years ago.

In the shadow of this success is the daunting problem of an extended drought on the Colorado. For the past 14 years, the Colorado River basin has been experiencing severe drought, causing levels in the river’s primary reservoirs to drop. The seven states and two countries that share the Colorado River have long known that the river is vulnerable to drought or long-term reductions in flow as a result of heavy demands and a changing climate. While Arizona has planned for decades and our conservation programs are in place, the drought is more severe than expected. Previously agreed-upon shortage sharing guidelines with other states sharing the river may not be enough to solve our long-term problems. Three strategies to address overuse of the resource are currently being discussed to correct the Colorado’s “structural deficit”: conservation, augmentation and reduction of system losses.

Drought preparedness is a shared responsibility among all water users in the Southwest. There isn’t one program or technology that can resolve our issues. Local efforts to use water more efficiently and regional efforts to develop alternative supplies are every bit as critical to our water future as the larger, multi-state projects. At CAP, we are committed to doing our part to address the great challenges ahead. As the ASU study indicates, the creation of jobs in all sectors of Arizona’s cities, business and agriculture depend on the health of the Colorado River and wise management of the resource for years to come.

Brice Willoughby is bringing Chris Grabe & Scott Johnson to speak about “Local ati” on Thursday January 31st at 12:00.

HomeSmart Elite Realtors Scott Johnson and Chris Grabe serve the Valley of the Sun. They provide remarkable service to their buyer and seller clients through their local knowledge, industry backgrounds, and exceptional care for their clients’ needs.

Phoenix East Rotary is pleased to present Gary Eden. He previously was with KTAR and will give us information about the History of Radio in Phoenix, Should be a great speaker on Thursday, October 27th at 12:00 @ Arizona Country Club. Please email eklecka@cox.net for a reservation.